


From a Princess Point of View

by acuteneurosis



Series: Through the Eyes of the Beholder [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Escape, Family Bonding, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Forgiveness, Gen, Kidnapping, Practice makes perfect, Promises, Recovery, Serious Injuries, Skywalker Family Drama, The Force, Turns Out We're Related
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:22:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23539069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acuteneurosis/pseuds/acuteneurosis
Summary: A collection of one-shots, behind-the-scenes moments from For Want of a Skywalker from a Princess/Sister/Daughter point of view. Separated from the main text because she spent so much time in that story being above it all and beside herself.But that doesn't mean she didn't have a stake in it.
Relationships: Leia Organa & Darth Vader, Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader
Series: Through the Eyes of the Beholder [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1671883
Comments: 36
Kudos: 292





	1. Secrets

_"I won't tell anyone if you won't."_

It was hard to have a serious conversation with someone about an increasingly complicated situation when you were alternately twenty years different in age. But they were trying, such as it was. Luke was definitely keeping something secret. Leia had figured that much out after Bespin, but that it was deeply, tightly, intimately connected to Vader was something she was only sure of now that she had witnessed so many of their conversations.

Especially that first one when she had just shrunk.

It was nice to know, when she was herself, at least distantly, what was happening to her. The Force. That made perfect sense, right? Because it was Luke's thing.

Only…

Leia stared at her hand, reached hesitantly out towards the wall, and checked for a third time that Vader's presence was elsewhere on the ship and moving further away. She'd wait until she couldn’t feel him to get started. She couldn't risk his figuring this out. But she couldn't be nervous, she had to stay calm.

Luke wasn't trying to get them out. Vader'd done something to convince him to stay. So whether it was hers or not, Leia was going to have to figure out this Force thing.

At least he'd keep all her stupid antics a secret. As funny as it was to think of witnessing, she didn't want anyone else to know about the fruit incident. Or several occasions when she and Luke had had to take turns getting the other one clean. Or all the stupid noises she'd made to entertain him, not quite as good as the ones he'd made to entertain her.

The tantrums, the fighting, the biting, being locked in a room because even as a toddler she was too dangerous to allow to roam at large on the ship.

Luke'd given her a conspiratorial wink before their last nap together when she had been small, promising not to tell anyone that she had been tired and needed the nap. But the words had felt like a broader promise.

This, all of this, could remain a secret, just between them, if that was what she wanted.

Right now she certainly did.

Trying not to think about Han and how he would be worried, or the rebellion and things that were happening without them, or the lurking shadow that she could always find if she got quiet enough and just reached out, Leia pressed her hand against the wall and tried to be still and here and now.

In this moment and place.

Luke had not taught her this.

He’d taught her the mediation, which was much easier as a full grown adult with impulse control and patience. He’d taught her to reach out and to pull in and to _feel_ things, things moving around her. He'd just never been very specific about what.

So Leia was just having to try this with what little skill and training she had, was doing it blind and with no experience.

But…

But she could _feel_ the lock. How it was a pattern of sparks and flashes that was different than the running current in the wall around it. That it had a pattern that it beeped and flashed in, and if she poked it, oh so gently, she could make little changes in it.

Most of them did nothing. Most of them would. But she only needed them to short out once to let her get free. Then she could grab Luke and run.

They'd get him a replacement hand back with the rebellion. And figure out how to stop this whole mess. There. Away from-

Away from the Empire.

She always said, "I love you," to him, because she never knew if that time might be the last. If she'd finally outlive her usefulness and fail to meet Vader's expectations.

And because he'd know, he had to know, that regardless of what Vader was holding over him Leia still loved him. He was her Luke and part and parcel to her world, and even if she'd never known before that she could feel him in the Force she could now and she would never, _ever_ let go of him again.

She wouldn't let him be hurt. Not if she had anything to say about it.

She'd just better not end up as a damn kid again. This was getting nuts.


	2. Recovered

The beep of the monitors and the blue glow of the tank were so reminiscent of Hoth Leia had to forcibly bring herself back to the present several times instead of getting lost in the memories. It was just so hard to escape the feeling of despair that was in this room. It mirrored her own from that time so well, she kept getting swallowed in it.

So she bent down and dropped another kiss on Luke’s head, whispering soothing words and hoping she could make a promise out of any of them.

He didn’t want Vader to die.

“Your Highness.”

Admiral Piett’s soft voice broke through a wave of grief that was taking her under again. She didn’t wipe the tears from her face, but she knew she didn’t need to. He didn’t mention them, just held out the stack of clothes to her, eyes drifting to the tank the moment her hand closed around them. “Thank you.”

“Would you like me to help Luke with his?”

Leia glanced down into blue eyes red rimmed with tears and felt Luke huddle closer to her, dragging the blanket with his good hand.

It had been a _really_ rough morning for him.

“That’s okay. I can handle him.”

She got Luke dressed first, not worried about modesty and more concerned about hurting him if she jostled his arm too hard. Admiral Piett’s eyes stayed on the tank, but she’d known they would. Professionalism was an ingrained part of his identity. She’d relied and trusted on that. She knew it had saved them this past week. Everyone on this ship trusted Admiral Piett.

Or at least, most everyone.

“Leia,” Luke sniffed as she pulled the shirt over his head, easing his arms through the sleeves, “make V’ader wake up.” After a moment of her not answering he added, “Pleez.”

“I can’t,” she told him, placing another kiss on his forehead. “He’s hurt Luke. He needs to sleep to get better.”

It wasn’t anything she hadn’t told him before. But he was definitely tired now and that always made him more petulant. “I want him,” Luke’s lip wobbled, “to not sleep. All bett’r.”

She knew it wouldn’t do any good to tell him to wait. Time meant less than nothing to him right now. “Do you want us to wake him up before he’s all better?”

That had him shuffling. “Leia make him bett’r.”

Oh hell no. “I can’t do that, Luke. I don’t know how.” And even if she did, she wouldn-

A feeling like a ground swell, power coming up to meet her, wash over her, a wave of black as she’d been set free, had run across the floor to Luke. He hadn’t let her watch but she’d _felt_ it. Felt the electricity in the air, heard the sparks and crackles, the ominous wheezing. Felt darkness fall, retreat to the place where it had stolen… something, she couldn’t remember. The smell was acrid, she’d been left alone, Luke had left her to go to Vader, and she was scared, so scared, crying because nothing was fine, it would never be alright…

 _You’re safe now_.

It was a promise in a voice that wasn’t familiar to her but was carried on that same power that had swelled around her when she’d run.

It hadn’t made sense then. Nothing had made sense then.

Now. Now, she wondered.

Straightening her clothes, Leia stepped closer to the tank where Luke and Admiral Piett were, the admiral holding Luke up so he could press his forehead against it, his hand white around the edges as he tried to push through and reach Vader.

An unsteady stream of bubbles obscured that scarred and pale face, those partial limbs.

If he was the creature of nightmares here, it was a very different sort than the ones Leia was used to.

“Princess?”

The admiral was looking back to her, seemed to want to know if she would take Luke back. It was tempting, but he obviously wanted to stay close, and Leia wasn’t sure if-

Ship. The admiral had a ship to run and a crew to manage if they were going to stay safe. “I’ll take him.”

She had to stand sideways to hold Luke steady and let him stay close, but it was a little easier than facing the tank head on. She could look away, or down at Luke, if she needed to. If watching him, just floating in there, more tubes and sensors than an organic should ever have attached to them coiling around him, became too much.

Hesitantly, moving only when she knew no one but Luke was watching, she placed her right hand next to Luke’s, reaching out with the gentlest push in the Force, not sure what she’d feel or find.

Sadness. Longing. Numbness. A sense of fading away.

 _You can’t go_ , she found herself reaching just a bit further, trying to catch that fading sense. To hold it. _It’s not safe yet._

She knew the Force was real. Knew it in her bones, not just because Luke used it but because now she knew it was a part of her. She still wasn’t sure she _believed_ in it though, that it had purpose, that there was a use to it.

Look at this mess it had apparently drummed up.

But in that reaching, in that thought, she thought she felt something tug, settle. Expand.

Vader twitched. Luke gasped and pressed closer. Leia froze.

When several minutes passed and nothing else happened Leia decided she’d had enough and pulled Luke back. He complained, but she ignored him. He was tired and it was time for a nap.


	3. Appease

Luke reached back, twisting in Vader’s arms and Leia reached out to take him, shooting a triumphant smile over Luke’s head. She knew better than to say that Luke preferred her though. She remembered what happened last time.

Vader made some sort of grumbling noises, but Leia couldn’t make out any of the words and so ignored him. “How are you doing, Luke?”

“I’s still broked,” Luke managed to look crushingly dejected no matter how old he was. It was a skill that she envied. Just a little bit.

“I’m sure soon it will be all better,” Leia brushed her thumb against the stump of Luke’s wrist and glanced up at Vader as she said it, trying to gauge from his posture what he might be thinking. Luke had taught her how to reach out and feel things in the Force, but she didn’t want to risk the backlash that would come if she tried that here. She remembered what it took to keep him out if he decided to retaliate. “What did I do today to earn this privilege?”

She tried to imbue the words with enough sarcasm that Vader wouldn’t mistake them for groveling. By the stiffening in his posture, she had managed that much.

“We have agreed that it would be better for Luke if he was allowed to see you from time to time. To make sure that you are still safe.”

She thought about that, half listening as Luke listed all of the impossible plans of what he wanted to do with her in the next thirty minutes. If “we” was Vader and Luke, that was a hilarious statement and probably more proof that baby Luke had Vader wrapped completely around his little finger. Which was more than a little weird. There were no reports that Vader had any particular softness when it came to children. No hints that he liked them at all.

But if “we” was Vader and Admiral Piett, this might be a more complicated plot. And one that revolved around the probable influence her and Luke’s continued presence was having on the ship. Vader didn’t seem ready to explain why he was insisting on holding them but not really doing anything else. Not negotiating their release with the Alliance. Not offering them up for public execution. Not even taking advantage of the time for various kinds of interrogation.

Either way, it was definitely more about keeping Luke safe, not her.

Vader didn’t care what happened to her.

Rather than wasting time by asking more questions, Leia agreed to a game of pretending to shoot down attacking space ships and spent the next hour on her hands and knees, trying to spot anything at Luke’s eye level that could pretend to be a target and point it out to him so he could swoop in on it, making laser sounds followed by spitting explosions.

She was mostly able to ignore Vader standing in the corner, staring at them. If he’d been shorter, she would have set Luke on him.

As it was, she did make sure to give him a final glare as the door to her makeshift cell shut between them.


	4. Consequential

“Now?” Luke was fidgeting in the oversized chair, watching every shift of Vader’s hands as he worked on the droid.

“Not yet Luke.”

“You shur?”

It was part hopeful and part pleading and Leia was glad she had a datapad to hide behind so that he couldn’t see her smiling. She shouldn’t be encouraging him.

Vader at least seemed to be holding strong. So far. “I am quite sure, Luke. Stay there and do not move.”

“But ’s boooring.” And just like that he slid, part flop part liquid slink, out of the chair and onto the floor, arms and legs splayed all over, pouty eyes and lips pointed in Vader’s direction, dejection written on every inch of him. And maybe leaking all over the place in the Force. Leia couldn’t be quite sure. “F’ather…”

Well, he had all of Vader’s attention now. The dark lord was still standing by the protocol droid, but he’d halfway moved to putting his tools down and was fully looking at— at his son. “I told you Luke, I need you to sit still while I am working on Threepio. I am making very fine adjustments and we don’t want to damage him.”

Not that Threepio hadn’t survived massive damage before. But Leia suspected Vader was trying to restore at least parts of his memory (although how was a question she was not sure she wanted answered) without doing additional damage to the droid.

It _was_ fiddly work. And Vader should have known better than to start doing it in front of Luke.

Who would want to help.

And couldn’t. Because he was too small. And didn’t have fine enough motor skills right now.

And was not patient. And did not like “no.”

If it hadn’t been such high stakes, Leia would have found this unarguably hilarious.

“I won’ hurted him. _Promise_.”

Luke’s speech had been getting more sophisticated, but he clearly had figured out that pouting and simpering were twice as likely to get him what he wanted from Vader. And, unfortunately, he was not wrong. “If you will be very careful, and stand very still, you may hold this for me while I finish. And then help me put his plating back on.”

Yeah, complete pushover.

But Luke was already scrambling up, smiling and jabbering about how still he would be, and Leia was pretty sure that Vader could mostly keep him under control. At least enough that Threepio would be safe.

Hopefully.

“Sir.” Admiral Piett had at least been wise enough to wait until Vader had pulled his hands back before interrupting. “You have another meeting.”

Vader didn’t make any noises, but Luke groaned, throwing himself on the floor again and wriggling in despondent spasms. Leia checked the time, frowned, and said, “There shouldn’t be a meeting for another hour. I’ve been scheduling them two hours apart.”

The minimum necessary cool down time to prevent Vader from getting too agitated about how people were using their breathing. Casualties to a minimum was turning out to be one of the hardest parts of this job.

Not in the least because Leia wished she could just let him do it.

“I know,” Piett looked almost anxious. “But the delegation from Ryloth is here early and…”

Right. Orn Free Ta had been one of their first and most violent losses. The Twi’leks were probably seeking… reassurance.

“I’ll go and see them,” Leia put her datapad down and started fixing her hair. “Schedule another time—“

“Absolutely not.”

Even Luke stopped his flopping when Vader managed that tone. Leia met him glare for glare, not intimidated by his mask.

Not anymore.

“I am perfectly capable—“

“Ta’s problem was his inability to behave in a way that was appropriate,” Vader seemed to be picking his words very carefully. And no wonder. Luke was still not aware of that particular death. “I have little faith that his associates will behave any better.”

“You can’t keep me from doing my job,” Leia objected, crossing her arms. “And of the two of us, I have the most experience—“

“You will attend that meeting only while I am present,” Vader was coming toward her and while a spike of fear played in the back of her mind, Leia squared her shoulders and stood her ground. “Because it is not your job to be there, it is _mine_.”

Before Leia could reply, Admiral Piett interjected, “If it’s acceptable, your Excellency, I could escort the princess with a squad of troopers and we could preemptively arrest them.”

“On what grounds?” Leia demanded, knowing exactly where she’d be standing if there were troopers coming. “We invited them to the palace!”

“True, but we did not invite them to bring slaves.”

The admiral’s face was a perfectly blank mask, but Leia almost thought she could feel an undercurrent of satisfaction from him.

Her father wasn’t nearly so reserved. In fact, he was downright gleeful as he said, “Arrest them _immediately_. But Leia has no need to—“

“I need to be there to give the order,” Leia insisted, scrambling for a defense. “One of us does, and you’re still in the middle of working on Threepio. And Force forgive you if you break him by leaving him like that, because Luke won’t.”

She wouldn’t either, but she still hadn’t forgiven him for a lot of other things that were probably more important.

She felt him struggling, to assert control and keep her safe. To avoid her displeasure. But with a last look at the admiral, he caved. “Fine. But they are not to get anywhere near her. And they had better already be disarmed.”

“Of course, sir.”

“I’m not _that_ bad,” Leia muttered. People didn’t want to shoot _her_ on sight.

She couldn’t see her father’s face, but Peitt’s bland expression shifted into patent disbelief. She could only imagine Vader’s was doing the same.

“F’ather,” Luke had crawled over and was tugging at the hem of Vader’s cape, rolling back and forth on his stomach. “Wha ‘bout Threepo?”

Vader bent down and scooped Luke up. “We will fix Threepio. Your sister will go and arrest the slavers.”

Luke smiled and waved at Leia. “Bye bye. Get bad guys.”

“Oh, I will,” Leia promised, blowing him a kiss as she followed the admiral out.

When the door slid shut behind them, he said, “You are aware that if anything happens to you, your father will have my head?”

“Duck behind a slaver,” she recommended, giving him a half smile. “He’ll feel better after that.”

For a moment he just stared at her. “You really are quite like him.”

Leia frowned, shrugging as she stepped ahead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Link to my [tumblr](https://this-acutenuerosis.tumblr.com/).


End file.
